Unit #2 Essay:
The Rise of Kickstarter as a Crowdsource Funding Platform
ENGW 3304 Jackson – Advanced Writing in Business
Estelle Ip
October 24, 2016
Northeastern University
Abstract
This research paper will discuss the history of crowdsourcing, the history of Kickstarter as a crowdsourcing platform, the rise of Kickstarter as a market leader, the success and failures of Kickstarter, as well as the future of the industry as a whole. Although Kickstarter has had notable failures, the successes that it has generated undoubtedly outweighs the downfalls. This is distinctly seen in research conducted by Goldman Sachs, statistics from Massolution, graphs, charts, and tables from Statista, as well as various annual reports from 2015, and other evidence that suggest that it is steadily increasing its importance and is exponentially developing to be a big player in the future.
Introduction:
Crowdsource funding, or crowdfunding, is a way to raise money by asking large amounts of people to each invest or donate a small amount of money to a project. Crowdfunding giants such as Kickstarter, provide online platforms for entrepreneurs to advertise and gain traction on their innovative ideas. This has allowed many self-made entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to life. Kickstarter is appealing to small businesses because it cuts out the middleman (the banks); entrepreneurs no longer need to take out business loans to fund their projects. Instead, they
Chen came up with the idea of Kickstarter in 2001 when he was working as a musician in New Orleans. He wanted to two hire Austrian DJs and rent a venue for a local jazz fest but he didn't have enough money. Indeed, this is when he began thinking “what if people can go to a site and buy tickets for the show?”. However, for seven years Chen did not know if and how should he start a site similar to his idea, and he also wanted to continue with his career. In fact, between 2001 and 2009, he had several jobs, including disc jockey, waiter, and electronic musician.
Kickstarter is a form of an electronic tribe. Kickstarter is a website where any hopeful entrepreneur can launch their ideas in the hope of raising enough money to meet their goal. If their goal is not met in the time period, the money is returned to the backers. Professors Tyrone Adams and Stephen Smith emphasizes tribes that work together, sharing a common belief, comparable to how Kickstarter links people together to become a part of a movement of the specific project. “They are throngs of people dedicated to an idea, purpose, function, or even a way of being” (Adams and Smith 14). The backers donate money to the business because they all believe in the project. Ryan Grepper, the creator of the Coolest Cooler, job is to get people to join his tribe by buying his product. Additionally, for people to believe and enjoy the product just as much as he does. Kickstarter caters to electronic tribes because it brings together a community through technology.
Capitol C takes a compelling look at the pheoneneom of crowdfunding. It's hard to not to receive an ask to support a Kickstarter or Indiegogo project on a daily bases anymore. Personally, I have only backed one crowdfunding project, it was a documentary about kids with autism. Why haven't I backed more? It's Not because I don't trust the process or believe in the product or ideas, it's just
In summary, equity crowdfunding ushers in a fresh and enhanced way to aid entrepreneurs and investors achieve their objectives. The challenge is weighing the influence and dynamics of crowdfunding, evolving market trends, dormant regulatory and ethical concerns, stakeholder considerations, and accomplishing the goals of both parties while balancing integrity and tenets. Investors and entrepreneur believe crowdfunding is an exemplary method of raising capital. It represents an opportunity to increase revenue, cultivate an entrepreneurial ecosystem, enter an emerging industry, and create jobs. Vigilance and education play a significant role if equity crowdfunding is to remain sustainable for many years to
Crowdfunding has become commonplace in the art world, but the Jewish Museum launched its first Kickstarter campaign for a number of reasons, of course, in order to fabricate the thousands upon thousands of artworks needed to keep the show fully-stocked throughout its run. Also through
Crowdfunding has become commonplace in the art world, but the Jewish Museum launched its first Kickstarter campaign for a number of reasons, of course, in order to fabricate the thousands upon thousands of artworks needed to keep the show fully-stocked throughout its run. Also, through Kickstarter platform, it creates a real Receive Me (I’m Yours) dynamic for reaching a real community around the museum, staging a online dialogue with its donors, eventually orchestrating a unique network in which participatory behaviours translate the collective online vision into physical space.
Crowd-funding, also known as crowd-sourcing, for the past five years has helped entrepreneurs and creators of art successfully fund their ideas without having to bow to traditional powers for resources. The following paper attempts to summarize what crowd-funding is, how it can help finance a project and how Kickstarter.com has drastically changed the popularity and efficiency of crowd-funding.
Angel investors are those investors that are particularly interested in investing in companies early stage companies. Their investment capital is generally limited and if relevant, it has been advantageous for them to pool their funds as a group to not only participate in larger deals but also to diversify risk. They invest in exchange for ownership equity or convertible debt.
Whilst some might say that Kickstarter is little more than an unnecessary middle-man, many others have argued that it has revolutionised the way in which the creative industry interacts with its fans by effectively bridging the gap between creator and consumer. Though the jury is still out on the validity of this argument, it can't be denied that certain projects would have never seen the light of day without it, with everything from movie projects to TV series and major electronic products being funded through the site, which only launched in 2009, but has already risen through the Alexa ranks to 374, and has earned its place in popular culture.
Angel Investors are the sophisticated ones who generally used to fund the startup companies. Any entrepreneur who wishes to establish a startup might search for investors. And investors who are willing to fund are known as Angel Investors. And the amount availed through investments for startups are called Angel Investments. Also there is another kind of investment also called as capital investment. Depending upon the policies evolved at management level of a business these investors are categorized. Not only confined to financial return, some factors such as motivation drive investors to spend with startups. Either from a relation prospective or from some successive entrepreneurs, we expect them to be investors. It would reflect a better understanding between angel investor and startup entrepreneur, if proper agreements are made at the start of business. Angel Investors might be of different types which probably contain
Kickstarter is a platform where creators can get their passion projects funded through people donating to their campaign, and in turn, the backers receive rewards based on their donation level. The funding is "all or nothing" on Kickstarter, meaning that the creator only receives the money if they reach their funding goal IN FULL. Otherwise, they do not receive anything. I personally love giving to Kickstarter campaigns (especially films) because I love supporting the arts, and
Crowdsourcing is the practice of outsourcing tasks including a form of compensation to a wide external group of people. It is a newly used term which refers to the process of obtaining services, ideas, or content by seeking contributions from a large group of people particularly from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers. Multiple types of businesses nowadays are using crowdsourcing for a diverse range of tasks that they find can be better completed by members of a crowd rather than by their own employees. This paper examines this new terminology “crowdsourcing” and its relation to marketing in general. It presents as a primary
Crowdfunding creates funds for new projects by using internet and social media. This can benefit small business projects to obtain their required funds. A project receives small investments from wide range of individuals through web advertising and social media. The individuals (investors) who have invested in the project may receive incentives such as discounts on the products, early opportunity to purchase their products, inclusion of their name in the list of contributing founders etc., so, they are not purchasing the share of the company. Crowdfunding avoids going to the banks, friends and family to get funds. It also avoids giving up partial ownership of their company. The websites like www.rockethub.com, www.peerfunding.com,
Crowdfunding is one way that businesses can seek money to startup their businesses, finance a new product, or expand their operations. Crowdfunding raises funds or capital by using online and social media networks to get a large number of people to contribute money towards a project in exchange for a good, service or equity. Generally money is raised through a fundraising website such as kickstarter. Another way to describe the meaning of crowdfunding is by the use of small amounts of capital from a large number of individuals to
Crowdfunding is on the trending topics of 2014. An entrepreneur could go online, make a page for themselves and start an attempt at crowd funding. Certain people have been able to acquire much more money but doing this, but why is that? In this proposal, I wish to be able to research whether or not more people are willing to donate in a personal level, meaning face-to-face, or would investors of today be more willing to donate money on an online platform such as crowdfunding.